Contents

The novel concerns a man named Corky Withers, a shy, odd-tempered and alcoholic magician, whose lackluster performances start to turn around when he adds a foul-mouthed ventriloquist's dummy, Fats, to the show. It chronicles Corky's childhood and adolescence, and his deep love for a high-school crush named Peggy Ann Snow.

The novel is written kaleidoscopically, changing time period, location, and point of view swiftly and leaving important information, such as the identity of Fats the dummy, unknown for extended periods of time.

Goldman had the idea for a novel about a ventriloquist for a number of years before writing it.[2]

He says his editor suggested he cut the sequence where Corky's father talks about seeing Bronko Nagurski making a comeback in a football game, which Goldman had seen as a boy, but the author refused because he was so moved by it.[3]